Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze fails to clean the air, magazine says

[Guest guest]

This topic came up recently, so I thought I would share this with you,

as not only does this purifier not clean the air, it spews ozone

apparently. Polluted air at a price, what a bargain.

Deanna

*

*MSNBC.com

Consumer Reports calls air purifier 'unhealthy'

Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze fails to clean the air, magazine says

The Associated Press

Updated: 7:56 a.m. ET April 5, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Consumer Reports magazine is taking renewed aim at a

popular air purifier made by The Sharper Image two months after it

fended off a libel lawsuit filed by the machine's retailer.

The magazine reports in its latest issue hitting newsstands Tuesday that

Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier and four other

similar machines fail to significantly clean the air -- but also release

potentially unhealthy levels of ozone.

The article is being published two months after San Francisco-based

Sharper Image agreed to pay the magazine's publisher, Consumers Union,

$525,000 in legal costs after a judge dismissed its libel suit. The

failed lawsuit alleged that earlier magazine articles highly critical of

the Ionic Breeze's ability to reduce airborne particles were false and

malicious.

2 million sold

Company lawyer E. Wallach said Sharper Image was evaluating how

to respond to the article, which advised against buying the machines.

More than 2 million of the $350 units have been sold.

" It is astonishing that Consumers Union would continue its misguided

efforts to attack the judgment and experience of millions of Americans

who are satisfied with the performance of the Ionic Breeze products, "

Wallach said in a statement.

In a statement of its own, Consumer Reports said the magazine's latest

article is accurate and that the nonprofit organization had called on

federal regulators to look at the advertising claims being made by

sellers of the five air purifiers it examined.

" All of these 'not recommended' products did a poor job in our tests of

removing dust, smoke and pollen from the air, " the statement said. " In

addition, all five of these products failed in Consumer Reports' labs

the standard industry test for ozone generation. "

Consumers Union is based in Yonkers, N.Y.

Shares of Sharper Image Corp. fell 4 percent, or 67 cents, to close at

$15.68 Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, near their 52-week low of $14.08.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7391185/